I was honored to spend time with Brian Draper in this beautiful, open-hearted interview in which I was asked questions I’ve never been asked. Brian is releasing our talk as part of a Lenten practice, which you can learn more about here. Click above to watch our interview, or listen to the audio here.
From Brian, “I asked Rosemerry about the relationship between her daily practice, and the outcome itself, the poem. Could the process be as important as the product?
‘I call the poem the by-product of what really matters. That’s not to say the poem doesn’t matter. It does! But what really matters is the sitting down and noticing. The wonder. The quiet. The blank page is a visual representation of quiet, where there’s nothing there, and then there’s something.
‘What do I bring to the silence, and how does the silence hold me?’ she asks. ‘It used to be an intimidating place, but now I love showing up. If you sit down and show up with your heart – it’s in that state of freedom and playfulness that we have the chance to really explore what it means to be alive.
‘And that’s what we’re doing every time we try to create any kind of art. We ask this question, “What does it mean to be alive?”‘
Why not ask yourself that question today, and respond creatively.”